Report: Acer Android Netbook pushed back
Update (July 30, 2009, 8:50 a.m. PDT): A subsequent report says that Acer's plans for an Android Netbook are allegedly still on track.
Is Acer backing off the idea of an Android-based Netbook?
A new report out of Taiwan, where the PC maker is based, says the production of the previously announced dual-boot Netbook with Windows XP and Android is being delayed.
(Credit:
Acer)
The report in Digitimes, says that while Acer had previously planned an earlier launch, "further evaluation has found demand for an Android Netbook is not strong enough, and it has therefore decided to postpone the launch of the model."
Digitimes says it was previously announced for an August release, but that it is being pushed back to November. When asked for confirmation, an Acer spokesperson said only that "Acer has not yet announced timing of a dual-boot Netbook."
But if the Digitimes report is accurate, it means something has shifted at Acer HQ. At Computex in early June, company executives were very excited about the possibilities of Android on Netbooks, even saying that the majority of Acer Netbooks will come with Android as an alternative operating system to Microsoft's Windows.
"Netbooks are designed to be compact in size and easy to connect to the Internet wherever you go," Jim Wong, Acer's president of IT products, said at the time. "The Android operating system offers incredibly fast wireless connection to the Internet; for this reason, Acer has decided to develop Android Netbooks for added convenience to our customers."
The idea of putting Google's Android mobile operating system on Netbooks came into favor earlier this year, with several Netbook manufacturers piping up to say they would offer or at least look into it as an option. But there are several potential problems with putting a relatively unknown operating system on what are intended to be very accessible computers for even the least technically savvy, as my colleague Dan Ackerman noted.
But more importantly, Android wasn't created for Netbooks. And earlier this month Google announced it's actually working on an OS specifically designed for them, Chrome OS. Google also said it is already working with PC makers like Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Acer, so it would make sense that Acer could be focusing its attention away from Android.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
If you look at what Asus is saying, it sounds to me as if somebody has given them the frighteners. The plan was dual-boot so even if people didn't like it they could always go and use Windows. I have Windows XP on my netbook, but only because it came bundled at a marginal cost. I am seriously considering switching as I am finding it awfully slow.
Of course Linux is a failure.
Or perhaps such a statement is ignorance?
That is a pretty well documented fact. Linux runs many web servers, but it doesn't run most of the 'Web'. All those Cisco routers out there are not running Linux. The SONET rings carrying all that fiber, some are running Linux, but most are not. There is a lot of stuff out there running Linux, but don't oversell it with lies, because that just leads all the OS/X, Windows, and OS2 (where is Commander Spock?) to jump all over you.
(Solaris, HPUX, SysV.4, Linux, NetBSD, QNX, VxWorks, pSOS, ThreadX, uC/OS, RTEMS, eCOS)
It is interesting that 3 years ago the only smartphones I ever saw were Blackberries and SE, and Nokias. Then came thew HTC's and Samsungs and LG's, then iPhones started becoming common and Nokias started to disappear. This year it seems everyone has an iPhone, there seem to be less HTC's and Blackberries and I haven't seen a Nokia or SE in months. And in all the time I have yet to see someone with an Android.
It is a bit like Linux. For all the excitement of the geek community, the public is so far just not interested all that much. Acer has simply noticed that their announcement produced very little buzz among the people who count - ordinary buyers, and they do not want to repeat their original mistake which was to offer netbooks with an OS which non-geeks just did not like (Linux). They remember how netbooks took off after they started installing XP on them. Google announcing the Google OS hasn't helped for it just confuses the issue for buyers.
Many people (not geeks) see netbooks as cheap laptops, so they want the OS they know and use, not the OS of a phone. Most of the people don't even call them netbooks, just the most savvy.
Plus, I prefer a windows netbook, with millions of apps avaible, and good ones, not just funny phone apps.
By the way, maybe in the USA the iphone is the ruler, I don't know the stats, but outside Nokia is still king by far, I see more Nokias, Samsungs and SE than iPhones in Europe and Latin America.
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/12/iphone-sales-grew-245-in-2008-gartner/
The iPhone is a neat product, I'll grant you that, but it is not the only phone being sold. Yeesh.
In March 2009 I purchased 400 computers for my company. I tried various OEM vendors to supply tenders for a mid-range business pc. One of the conditions was that they had to be loaded with RedHat/Fedora desktops. Although not really the point of this comment, it was decided that OpenOffice an open-source mail client plus a Firefox browser would serve our business purpose perfectly. On top of that came the added bonus of saving about $275,000 for unnecessary MicroSoft licenses.
The point of this story is: I could not get any OEM manufacturer to supply any quotes, that did not include MS Windows licenses in some shape or form. In my opinion, they were plain afraid of doing anything that could hurt MicroSoft. Makes you think!
We ended up contracting a 2nd-tier supplier, who purchases his parts independently and and whose support setup appeared up to scratch.
Somehow I doubt that our 400 computers, which by the way, are happily ticking away on their Redhat desktops, will ever appear on any official statistic claiming MS holds 98% or more of the desktop. As to the OEM suppliers: I know of others in similar situations who have given up on them a long time ago.
They don't seem to want our money, they prefer the free MicroSoft Ads-aid. Go figure!
Arthur
Consider these companies are making *millions* of systems and your lot of 400 would require a much larger investment of time and resources on their part to deal with your needs that would cost them far more than the sale of those same systems.
Companies are in thsi to make money, and your proposal would be a money loser for them. I don't blame the companies for not giviing you a quote either.
Shame on you for being devious. Way to go for being clever. I also hope they negotiated Microsoft into a good advertising kick back. I kind of like the idea that the Windows community may be paying for my Linux habit.
I still resent buying a computer with Windows on it but lets be realistic, it used to be just an expensive coaster for me but now I see it as a way for Acer and other builders to reduce costs.
The ChromeOS killed Android for Netbooks... which further pushes out when we'll first see a Google-powered Network. Had Google stuck with Android for Operating Systems and Chrome for Browsers, Acer would not be bailing out on their Google-powered Netbook.
- by moneyrules November 2, 2009 3:00 PM PST
- These things should fly with windows xp
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